Vehicle control units are used for monitoring and controlling a number of functions of a vehicle. Such vehicle control units work partly autonomously and partly depending on driver interventions. Individual vehicle control units are as a rule specialized to individual or a few functions, such as to the brake system. There is thus typically a series of different vehicle control units in a vehicle.
To determine the actual state of relevant measurement values, a vehicle control unit is fitted with or connected to suitable vehicle sensors. The vehicle sensors are electrically connected to the vehicle control unit or to an electronic circuit or circuit board that is disposed within a housing of the vehicle control unit.
In the prior art, two embodiments of the electrical connection between the vehicle sensor and the vehicle control unit are known, which are dependent on the installation position and on the type of the measurement value.
In the first case, the vehicle sensors are designed as separate units and only connected to the vehicle control unit or the electronic circuit thereof with an electrical cable connection. It is a disadvantage of this that the sensor must comprise a separate housing and a suitable fastening and above all that an electrical cable connection suffers in terms of the reliability thereof owing to vibrations and similarly to the duration. Cabling is also expensive, especially in the case of a plurality of sensors.
In the second case, the vehicle sensor is directly disposed on the electronic circuit or the electronic board, so that there is a fixed electrical connection thereby. The corresponding measurement value, for example an air pressure or similar, or the measurement object, such as a pressure medium, must be transported to the vehicle sensor, for example by means of cables, deflectors, or hoses. This has the disadvantage that suitable leadthroughs and connections, for example a pressure hose or similar, must be provided. In particular, in the case of the arrangement of a plurality of sensors, this solution is expensive.